Kull said she thought the parade was fantastic.

``It was exceptional and it went off well,’’ she said.

Kull said she didn’t know what kind of crowd to expect, but said she was glad to see so many people out and about Saturday afternoon.

Mayor Carol Waller, who was also co-marshal of the parade, said the parade was fabulous and went fantastically well. She said it was a great show of community spirit and a great celebration for the village.

``It was great to see all the organizations and community groups get out and show their support in the parade,’’ Waller said.

Waller said the picnic in the park, which featured a juggler, Irish dancers, the Wild Life Center, activities for children, and food, was also wonderful.

``It was a fun afternoon with great food with friends,’’ said Waller. ``It just goes to show you, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a good time.’’

Hartwick resident Don Huntington said he thought the parade was nice for the small village. He said the crowd was great, the weather was great and he loved seeing the youngsters such as the boy scouts and youth groups.

``I love to see the kids involved,’’ Huntington said.

Huntington said he also liked seeing all the kids gathering Tootsie Rolls tossed from the floats.

``That is what parades are all about,’’ Huntington said.

Huntington said he particularly liked the motorcycles, and believed the highlight of the parade was the Anheuser-Busch Budweiser Clydesdales.

Nine-year-old Kanah Kull said he and his family drove approximately six and a half hours from Maine to see his great-grandmother Grace, the bicentennial chairwoman, ride on a fire truck in the parade. However, Kanah, his brother Will and father Andy were slightly disappointed because she got off the truck at the judges’ post right before making it to where her family was sitting.

Kanah said he had a fun time at the parade, where he gathered as much candy as he could. He said the horses were probably his favorite part of the parade.

After the parade, Kanah said he and his family were going to head to Lakefront Park where his great-grandfather Steve was going to be face painting.

Dan Powers, of Milford, said the parade was probably the best he has seen in the area in a long time. He said he and his family specifically came to see the Budweiser Clydesdales and were planning to go visit them again at Iroquois Farm Sunday.

Although the Powers family came to see the Clydesdales, they said they were impressed with much more than the horses. The family said they liked the juggler and the Norwich Antique Car Museum display.

Powers said the parade was bigger than what he had expected. However, he would have liked to see more horses and riders.

Cheri Hollister, of Cooperstown, participated in the parade as one of the Native Daughters and said the experience was a lot of fun.

``It was invigorating and exciting,’’ said Hollister. ``We should have more parades in Cooperstown.’’

Hollister said it was great to see so many people turn out for the celebration.

Cooperstown’s historian Hugh MacDougall was also in the parade and said he thought it went well. He said although he could not really see the parade, because he was participating in it, everyone he talked to seemed pleased.

Prizes were awarded to floats at Lakefront Park after the parade. First place went to the Cooperstown Girl Scouts, second place to Bassett Healthcare, third place to The National Baseball Hall of Fame, fourth place to the Native Daughters of Cooperstown, fifth place to the Rotary Club of Cooperstown, and sixth place to the Farmers’ Museum.

Kull would like to thank the parade committee for pulling off a wonderful event for the community. She would also like to thank the steering committee for their hard work at Lakefront Park after the parade. She said a lot goes on behind the scenes to make sure things run smoothly, and she would like to thank all the people who helped out.

Waller said the parade and picnic were just the beginning of a fun-filled weeklong celebration of the incorporation of the village and believes the entire week will be fun.

A full schedule of the remaining Bicentennial events can be found at www.cooperstownny.org.